Warp knitting machine, particularly galloon crocheting machine

ABSTRACT

Longitudinal weft guides, as well as other weft guides and/or thread guides are placed relative to the hook needles and to the corresponding thread guides in a knitting machine. In order to simply to drive thereof, the drive devices for the bars (22,24) of the longitudinal weft guides as well as the drive device for the bar (32) of the thread guides are arranged together on one side of the machine frame and are combined. To this end, a common drive shaft is provided for oscillating levers of the drive to the longitudinal weft guides and another oscillating lever for the thread guides.

The invention consists of a warp knitting machine, in particular agalloon crocheting machine.

A warp knitting machine, in particular a galloon crocheting machine, ofthe above-mentioned type is described, for example, in German Patent OS27 58 421. Oscillating levers serve as drives for the rods of thelongitudinal weft guides, and the levers are arranged at opposite sidesof the machine frame and are driven by means of eccentrics, as isdescribed in the example of German Patent OS 27 21 024. These otherrods, which do not serve for driving the longitudinal weft guides, butinstead for weft guides of another type and/or for the thread guides areoperated by driving devices which are positioned on the other side ofthe machine frame. Therefore, it is necessary to have two drives atopposite sides of the machine frame for driving the rods, and due tothis, on the one hand, the manufacture of such knitting machines becomesexpensive, and on the other hand, the adjustment is difficult, since theadjustment of the drive devices must be accomplished on two differentsides of the machine frame.

It is an object of the present invention to construct a warp knittingmachine, in particular a galloon crocheting machine of the foregoingtype, so that its manufacture is more cost-effective and its operationis simpler. This object is achieved by the present invention. In thisregard the driving device for at least one of the rods for the weftguides and/or thread guides is located on the same side of the machineframe as the drive device for the rods of the longitudinal weft guides.With these drive devices combined in this manner, a substantial savingin components is achieved, and the adjustment of the drives is madesimpler since it can be performed from one side.

It is conceivable that a single drive shaft would suffice for the drivedevice of the bars of the weft guides and/or thread guides. This driveshaft is drivingly connected to the drive devices for the rods of thelongitudinal weft guides. It is preferable, however, if the drive shaftfor the drive devices of the longitudinal weft drives is employedsimultaneously for driving the drive devices of the remaining weftguides and/or thread guides. One particularly simple and compactconstruction results if the warp knitting machine is formed with twooscillating levers as the drive devices for the bars of the longitudinalweft guides. The oscillating lever of the drive device for the remainingweft guides and/or thread guides can be equipped with a follower whichis held against the eccentric of the drive shaft by spring tension.Preferably, however, an embodiment is adopted, where an oscillatoryguide for the oscillating lever is provided in both directions.

The oscillating lever of the drive device for the remaining weft guidesand/or thread guides can be designed as a one-arm lever to the free endof which the coupling bar is connected to transmit the back and forthmovement to the bar. In this manner, this coupling bar can be fastenedby means of a bolt in an oblong hole. Preferably, this is accomplishedwith a two-armed lever since then the adjustment of the operating lengthof the lever can be made at the arm to which the coupling bar connects.Here too, for example, a connecting rod joined with the drive shaft canbe fastened likewise by means of a bolt in an oblong hole of theoscillating lever. In this embodiment of the oscillating lever, atwo-armed lever provides a further advantage in that the end of theoscillating arm to be joined with the coupling bar can be improved withvarious other possibilities, including multiple connecting points forthe bar. By this means, a shifting of the connecting point for thecoupling bar is possible, so that the bars movable back and forth invarious guides can be fixed to the oscillating arms of the knittingmachine.

The new configuration of the knitting machine is adapted in particularfor the manufacture of simple work products with continuous stitches, inparticular for the manufacture of ribbons with interwoven elasticthreads, for example, rubber threads.

An exemplary embodiment of the warp knitting machine of the presentinvention, in particular the galloon crocheting machine is furtherdescribed hereinafter with the aid of drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the work area of a galloon crochetingmachine illustrated schematically.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view showing a section of the knitting.

FIG. 3 illustrates the drive for the longitudinal weft guides as well asthe weft guides and/or thread guides in which the coupling bar for theweft guides and/or thread guides is omitted, the view being taken in adirection opposite to the knitting.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view as seen along the section line IV--IV of FIG.1, and shows in detail the drive device for the bars of the weft guidesand/or thread guides for the drive of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the drive in FIG. 3 as seen along thesectioning line V--V.

FIG. 6 is a side elevation view of FIG. 3 as seen in the direction VI,and illustrates the drive device for the longitudinal weftguides--without the drive device for the other weft guides and/or threadguides, and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of FIG. 3 as seen along the section lineVII--VII and illustrates the drive device for the weft guide and/orthread guides--without the drive device for the longitudinal weftguides.

FIG. 1 shows the operative components at the knitting station of agalloon crocheting machine similar to the embodiment of the gallooncrocheting machine according to German Patent OS 27 58 421. A series ofhook needles 4 are arranged on a bar 2 which needles lie parallel to oneanother and project forwardly. The hook needles 4 can be combined invarious groups, and are moved back and forth in their longitudinaldirection in a manner not illustrated. At the forward region, the hookneedles are guided in a groove of a take-up bar 8. On the side oppositethe needles 4, a series of thread guides 10 are arranged, which are heldlikewise in a bar 12 which performs a back and forth movement transverseto the direction of the thread guides 10 in order to insert from time totime a guided thread 14 in the corresponding hook needle 4. Uponretraction of the needle 4, a stitch existing on the needle is taken upand a new stitch is formed. The knitting 16 is discharged downwardly.

Further, two longitudinal weft guides 18,20 are operative at the workstation and are actually connected to bars 22,24. The bars are actuallyslidably mounted in a guide 26 of an oscillating arm 28 for back andforth displacement. The longitudinal weft guides 18,20 actually serve toinsert a weft thread at least along one portion of the width of theknitting in order to connect the individually knitted threads with oneanother. A set of thread guides 30 also exists at the knitting station,and the guides are likewise fastened to a common bar 32 which likewiseis slidably mounted in a guide 26 of the oscillating arm 28. The threadguide 30 serves in the foregoing example to interweave a single threadlongitudinal into the chains formed by the knitting. The oscillating arm28 is pivoted back and forth about an axis 34 by means of a drivedevice, which is not illustrated, in order to bring the longitudinalweft guides 18,20 and the thread guides 30 into the necessary positionfrom time to time for drawing of the threads by means of the hookneedles 4.

FIG. 2 shows a section of the knitting 16 which can be manufactured witha galloon crocheting machine according to FIG. 1. The knitted stitchesor chains 38 are produced by means of the hook needles 4. Thelongitudinal weft guides 18 serve to insert the weft threads 40 whichproduce the connection between the two individually knitted chains 38.In the example illustrated, the weft thread only runs between the twochains 38; however, it can run over several chains. Finally, a thread42, for which the thread guide 30 serves as a guide, is interwoven in achain 38. The thread 42 is, for example, an elastic thread, inparticular a rubber thread, whereby it is possible to manufacture ahighly elastic knitted product.

FIGS. 3-7 show the driving devices 44,46 for driving the longitudinalweft guides 18,20 and the drive device 48 for driving the thread guides30. A common drive shaft is journaled by means of ball bearings 52,54 ina frame 66 for rotation. The drive shaft 50 includes a gear 58 which isdriven by means of a toothed belt 60 that runs over a driven gear 62.

Crank pins 64 are actually screwed into the end of the drive shaft 50and carry connecting rods 66, which are connected to oscillating levers68. The oscillating levers 68 are rotatably mounted at one end on anaxis 70. At the other end, the levers are actually joined to couplinglinks 72 which are connected with guide members 74. The bars 22,24 areconnected to these guide members. Each guide member is formed by tworods 76 which run through two guides 26 of the oscillating arms 28 andare connected with one another at the ends by means of joining members78. The rods 76 serve the purpose of preventing the bars from wobbling.The coupling links 72 are separate and are held together by sleevelikeadjusting nuts 80 which consist of oppositely threaded components inorder to be able to adjust the length of the links. Besides, thecoupling links 72 are actually fastened in oblong holes 86 by means ofthreaded bolts 82 and lock nuts 84 so that the effective length of theoscillating levers 68 can be adjusted.

The drive device 48 for the bars 32 of the thread guides 30 is formed byan eccentric ring 88 which is fastened to the drive shaft 50 between theball bearings 52,54. A ball bearing 90 is mounted to the eccentric ring88 and a connecting rod 94 is fastened to the bearing race 92 of thebearing. The other end of the connecting rod 94 is connected with atwo-armed oscillating lever or rocker arm 96 which is rotatably mountedto the frame 56 by means of a bolt 98. The arm 100 of the lever 96joined with the connecting rod 94 has an oblong hole 102 so that themoment arm of the connecting rod 94 is adjustable by means of a threadedbolt 104 and a lock nut 106.

A lever arm 110 is arranged on the other arm 108 of the oscillatinglever 96, and various fastening positions for the fastener 112 of thecoupling link 114 are located on the arm 110. The coupling link 114 isagain joined with a guide member 116 to which the bar 32 for the threadguides 30 is connected. The guide member is again formed to correspondwith the guide members 74 of the bars 22,24 for the longitudinal weftguides 18,20. Additionally, the coupling link 114 is also separatedwhereby the individual parts can be provided with opposite threading andare joined together with a corresponding adjustable nut in order to beable to adjust the length of the coupling link 114. With the aid ofvarious fastening positions on the lever arm 110, it is possible to setthe bars 32 for the thread guides 30 in various guides 26 of theoscillating arm 28 as is illustrated by phantom lines in FIGS. 4 and 7.

I claim:
 1. A warp knitting machine having a series of movable hookneedles, a series of thread guides movable relative to the needles,longitudinal weft guides secured to guide bars that move back and forthin a direction parallel to the series of hook needles, and other weftand thread guides, a common drive device for the bars to whichlongitudinal weft guides are secured including a drive shaft witheccentrics to which oscillating levers are joined by means of connectingrods, the levers being in turn joined by connecting links with thelongitudinal weft guide bars, wherein the improvement comprises: afurther eccentric (88) mounted on the drive shaft between the eccentricsfor the connecting rods (66) connected to the oscillating levers (68)for the longitudinal weft guides (18,20), a rocker arm (96) disposed ina plane between the oscillating levers (68) for the longitudinal weftguides, the rocker arm being connected to at least one of the guide bars(32) for the other weft guides and thread guides (30) for driving theguides and a connecting rod (94) extending between the eccentric (88)and the rocker arm (96) for driving said at least one of the guide bars(32) from the common drive shaft (50).
 2. A warp knitting machine asdescribed in claim 1 wherein the rocker arm (96) and the one end of theconnecting rod (94) joined with the rocker arm have an adjustableconnecting point whereby the effective moment arm of the rocker arm (96)is adjustable.
 3. A warp knitting machine as described in claim 2wherein connecting links (72) interconnect the oscillating levers (68)and the guide bars (22,24) for the longitudinal weft guides, and theconnections between the links (72) and the levers (68) are adjustable toadjust the effective length of the oscillating levers.
 4. A warpknitting machine as described in claim 1 wherein connecting links (72)interconnect the oscillating levers (68) and the guide bars (22,24) forthe longitudinal weft guides, and the connections between the links (72)and the levers (68) are adjustable to adjust the effective length of theoscillating levers.